Lamont Peterson edges out Felix Diaz

IN an entertaining 12-round scrap, hometown favorite Lamont Peterson (now 34-3-1, 17 KOs) edged out a majority decision over previously undefeated Olympic gold medalist Felix Diaz (now 17-1, 8 KOs) from EagleBank Arena at George Mason University. Peterson and Diaz stood and exchanged shots toe-to-toe for long periods, bringing the crowd into a frenzy time-after-time. Peterson pressed the action for the majority of the fight, stalking the smaller Diaz to the ropes. Diaz was the busier of the two, countering and flurrying effectively. Sensing he needed a knockout to win, Diaz came out in the 12th and final round with a sense of urgency, taking the fight right to Peterson. In the end it was too little too late though, as Peterson was awarded the majority decision by scores of 114-114, 117-111, 116-112.

Peterson said of the fight, “Every time you hear close scores, you get nervous. I thought I controlled the fight and was ahead on points. Having that majority decision kind of shocked me a little bit.

“Diaz didn’t surprise me because I knew he would be difficult. I said in the fighter meetings, I’d rather fight taller fighters. He’s a southpaw and he has some great experience. I knew he would be tough because it was his big opportunity and he wanted to win.

“It was a good tough 12 round fight. I started out strong and faded in the middle rounds because I started to cramp and it lasted for the rest of the fight, but I knew I had done enough to win the fight. No more playing around, its time to move up in weight.

“I knew Diaz was a great fighter. He’s been boxing 20 years just like me. At the end of the day, a victory is a victory.

“He took good shots. I wasn’t able to get my shots off like I wanted to. I was able to block his shots and he never hurt me.”

“I thought it was a very tough fight. I thought he did good, of course he could have done better,” said Barry Hunter, Peterson’s Trainer. “I thought we were going to get him out of there in the fifth round, but Lamont started to cramp and the cramps lasted throughout the fight. That’s boxing. Just like life, you make adjustments and we did that. I thought Diaz fought great.”

“I fought a great fight. The decision didn’t go in my favor, but I did everything I could. The judges didn’t see it the way everyone else did,” said Diaz. “I am going to take a little vacation in the states and go back to the Dominican Republic and rest and figure out my next opponent. I just know I did everything I could.”

The televised co-feature saw a bizarre end to a hard-hitting bout that began with fast-paced action controlled by Prichard Colon (now 16-1, 13 KOs) against fellow undefeated fighter Terrel Williams (now 16-0, 12 KOs). The bout took its first unusual turn when the referee deducted two points from Colon for a deliberate low blow in the fifth round. Following the point deduction, Williams became the aggressor, while Colon looked to box and counter from the outside. Williams seemed to be the fresher of the two as the fight continued, but with the fighters in a clinch in the 7th round, Williams landed a hard right hand to the back of Colon’s head that sent him to the canvas resulting in a one-point deduction. When action resumed, the fighters went toe-to-toe for the remainder of the round.

There was confusion at the end of the 9th round as Colon’s corner immediately began removing their fighter’s gloves, as they believed the fight had ended. When the referee informed the corner that there was still one round left they frantically began to re-tape Colon’s gloves. The bell beginning round 10 sounded shortly after, with Colon unready to continue. As Colon was unable to answer the bell at the start of the 10th and final round, the referee awarded Williams a disqualification victory.

“I’ve been fighting for years on smaller cards building my resume,” said Williams. “I know how to stay composed.

“He [Colon] was just another fighter. People kept saying he was so much better, but he was 16-0 and I was 14-0, to me, that’s a 50-50 match up.”

“I thought Terrel’s performance was stupendous,” said Williams’ trainer Joe Goossen. “Colon was a very big threat, a great fighter at 16-0 undefeated. We knew we had our hands full. This is why we prepared so hard. Terrel’s a talented kid and he worked hard.”

Prior to the start of the main event, Colon was rushed to Inova Fairfax Hospital due to vomiting, fainting and dizzy spells in his dressing room. There is no further information on his condition at this time.